In this Instructable I will show how to convert 360 degree product views to 3D from a simple 2D series of photos taken with a usual camera and with a Product Photo 360 turntable.

This Instructable is based on the 360 Degree Product View in 3D tutorial which is available in the link below.

http://productphoto360.net/360_degree_view_in_3D.php

The tutorial was inspirated by:
Egri Á. et al. (2011) Stereo effect by delayed rotating alias "exhumating decased celebrities by virtual 3D rotation". Fizikai Szemle 61: 384-386 (in Hungarian)

Step 1: What Is Product Photo 360?

Product Photo 360 is a free and open source system, using it you can make your own 360 degree product photography.

If you want to know more about it visit the official site: productphoto360.net

or check the Instructable below:

360 Degree Product Photography With Product Photo 360

Step 2: Sensing in 3D

The brain uses several ways to sense the world in 3D. If the object is very close the angle of the eyes gives information about the distance. Parallax is an other way to detect distance: farther objects move slower than closer ones while passing by them.

Animals with overlapping visual fields (like humans) see the 3D world by binocular disparity. This means the left and the right eyes see the objects from different angles. The brain gets the depth information from the two different two-dimensional retinal images arriving from the eyes.

Step 3: Convert 360 Degree Product Photos to 3D

If you have two photos from an object taken from different angles, showing one photo to the left eye and the other one to the right eye is similar as seeing the object with two eyes simultaneously.

After you made the 360 degree product photograhpy with a Product Photo 360 turntable, you just need to convert the pairs of images next to each other to a 3D image using the stereoscopic method you prefer. You also need to convert the first and the last images to a 3D image. This way you can convert the series of images without losing a frame.

Note: In the examples below I take 102 images in one full turn. If you take too few photos the difference between the two images will be too high and the 3D sense doesn't appear.

Step 4: Anaglyph 3D

An anaglyph 3D image contains two images encoding the original images in different colour channels (the most popular is red-cyan). To see anaglyph images in 3D you have to use special colour-coded anaglyph glasses. These glasses can be purschased from ebay for $1 or less.

Since in anaglyph 3D the two images differ in colours, desaturated images make the best result.

To convert your images to anaglyph 3D with the program imagemagick, just download the script below and copy it to the folder containing the images. In order to run the script, make it executable. Than run the $ ./anaglyph.sh command in terminal.

Note: You can run the script on the Product Photo 360 Live CD or on other Linux OS.

Click the link below to download the anaglyph.sh script.

http://productphoto360.net/scripts/anaglyph.sh

Visit the tutorial if you want to know more about the script usage or for more anaglyph examples.

http://productphoto360.net/360_degree_view_in_3D.php#anaglyph

Step 5: Cross-Eyed Side-by-Side Viewing

Cross-eyed side-by-side viewing doesn't need any 3D viewing device. These images contain two images next to each other. These images can be correctly seen by crossing the eyes, the left eye viewing the image on the right side and vice versa. The fused 3D image will appear between the two original images.

Using this method requires practice. For beginners: Place your fingertip between the two images to the bottom. Focus on your fingertip while approaching to your eyes. It is positioned correctly if the third image appears just above the finger. Try to focus on the 3D image while the eyes are crossed.

Download the script from the link below:

http://productphoto360.net/scripts/cross-eyed.sh

You can use the script similar to the anaglyph.sh script.

Click here for corss-eyed side-by-side example.